Silent Wind
by Zeraphic Triomis
Summary: An escaped experiment seeks revenge on a certain SOLDIER. However, the Lifestream prevents that from happening... at least... for a while. DISCONTINUED
1. A New Beginning

A/N: Welcome to my newest FF7 fanfic! Took me a while to think of this… due to evil writers block. :groan: BUT! I thought of something and it came out pretty well. :thumbs up: Hope you enjoy! 

Disclaimer: :sings: Final Fantasy 7 doesn't belong to meeee…

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 1

A New Beginning

Things have changed dramatically in Midgar as the whole city was filled with life. People of all ages were attempting to fix things that would take many years to finish, but that didn't stop them from turning the messed up Midgar into a whole new Midgar. The whole city was running freely as the ShinRa had nothing to do with it anymore. It was practically a memory to them. Now, everyone can finally create a city that didn't need to depend on some company anymore.

Meanwhile, deep in the slums of Midgar rests the Seventh Heaven. From the day Cloud arrived at the bar when he was hired by AVALANCHE, it had remained the same. The same old westernized style… the same old pinball machine…

Tifa had been back in business after a, ridiculously, long vacation. She actually missed serving people drinks, the scent of alcohol, and watching people getting drunk before her eyes. Although, she wished everyone wouldn't get _too_ drunk in front of her.

As Tifa watched her last customer exit out of the bar, she stretched her arms across the counter and quickly got up, hoping to lock up before another customer was willing to spend another six hours drinking.

With the bar finally locked up, a slight sigh escaped from her mouth as she headed upstairs for the night. Just when things started to quiet down, beeping noises were heard, echoing throughout. Tifa paused and remained silent. When the noise returned, she widened her eyes and started running towards the guest room. As she searched through the disorganized dresser, she finally came across her old PHS.

"Whoa," she thought. "I… can't believe I still have this thing…"

After a few moments, Tifa finally picked it up, and answered with a shaky voice.

"H… hello?"

"… Tifa?" the other line responded.

"… yes?"

"Hey, it's been a while."

After a short pause, Tifa widened her brown eyes and grasped onto the phone, almost splitting the poor thing in half.

"Cloud!" she squealed loudly. Her heart jumped around her chest like crazy! She obviously had not heard from Cloud in such a long time. It must've been months since she heard his voice! Tifa whirled her long brown hair around and switched the phone to the opposite ear. "How are you? Are you alright? Please tell me you're alright!"

Cloud grinned softly. "Yes, I'm alright. Don't worry."

"I should worry! Why haven't you called? Where are you? Are you positively sure you're okay?"

Cloud remained silent as Tifa continued her 'ask twenty questions' game. Cloud finally spoke up, hoping to end her questions.

"Listen, I need you to contact... Barret, Cid, and Yuffie for me."

Finally calming down, Tifa replied. "Huh? Why so sudden?"

"…something came up," Cloud responded with a serious tone in his voice.

"What?"

"I'll tell you as soon as you call and have them meet me at the Gold Saucer entrance."

"Gold Saucer?" she thought to herself. It had to be months since the last time they've been there. Why did Cloud want to meet up so suddenly? She resisted the urge to ask him that, so she nodded to herself. "Okay, Cloud," she finally said before Cloud hung up on her.

As she slowly removed the PHS from her ear, her arm quickly dropped to her side.

"… what happened now, Cloud?"

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 1! Eh, twas a tad bit short. I'll try to make the next chapter a little longer. Welp! Hope you liked! Please leave ze review! 


	2. Reuniting of Old Friends Part 1

A/N: Muaha! Welcome to Chapter 2! Arg, I might've rushed through a couple of things. :clenches fists: Darnnit! Maybe next time I shouldn't listen to… ridiculously LOUD music while typing up a story. Oo; Ah well. Hope you'll enjoy!

Summary: We find out what Cloud's friends were doing over the past few months. Then, they get an unexpected call from Tifa.

Disclaimer: FF7 doesn't belong to meeeeee… again. :sigh:

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 2 

Reuniting of Old Friends Part 1

Tension filled the air as a strong warm breeze found its way to Wutai. A crowd of people started to take form as they quickly made their way towards the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods. Sparks started flying as two figures in the center of the pagoda flew backwards and collided against the hard stoned ground. In an instant, both fighters quickly stood up and lunged forward as a powerful aura spread throughout the small village. A huge gust of wind suddenly appeared between the two fighters as one of them retreated on top of a nearby building. He grinned as he let out a huge blue orb that was secretly created behind his back, causing his opponent to take in the force and collide against the side of a building. The victor stepped down with a grin that was still present on his face. The "defeated one," quickly stood up, still not quite done with the fight.

"You cheated!" the young ninja insisted to her opponent as she took out her oversized shuriken. "C'mon! It's not over til the fat man dies!"

"Talk like that to your father will ya, Yuffie!"

"C'mon! I'm not finished with you yet!"

"Oh… you're finished already."

"Not on my watch!"

Yuffie lunged forward, holding her trusty shuriken by her side. In an instant, her opponent disappeared before her eyes. Only three seconds into the fight and already the ninja found herself lying on the ground. As she an attempted to get up, her father brutally stepped against her soft back. The ninja moaned in agony.

"That's what you get for disrespecting your elders."

With that said, he walked away with a slight grin on his face. As the crowd of people died down, the young ninja was left alone. She finally got up, pouted, and kicked her foot hard against the ground.

"Damnit! That's the third time this week that I lost to him!" she said to herself. "But! I'll kick his ass sooner or later!"

Finally inside her home, Yuffie sighed loudly and brushed her feet hard against the wooden floor in front of her father's room several times, hoping that he'd want to start another battle with her. But, that didn't seem to work. So, she quickly headed to her own room and slid her door shut.

Yuffie collapsed on her futon before she stared up at the ceiling. A lot was on her mind… not because of the fight… even though that's mainly the problem, but something seemed to be missing in her life. While she was fighting against her old man, it brought back a memory of someone fighting against… some kind of evil force. Her eyes widened at that.

"… evil force…" she said to herself. After she whacked herself with a pillow several times, small colorful orbs fell out of it and rolled across her room, creating a sound that made the ninja's ears perk up.

She picked one of the orbs up and closely examined it. "… my… materia!" she squealed. "Oh my gosh! I haven't seen these in like… a bajillion years! Ohh! Materia! I missed you!"

Yuffie, who was busy hugging all her precious materia, soon remembered what was missing in her life. (no… not only materia… :cough: ) She began to remember AVALANCHE and all her friends. Soon, the ninja paused and let her hands drop the materia back on the ground.

"AVALANCHE… that was when… _she d-_"

Before she could finish, beeping noises were heard, echoing throughout her room. Yuffie jumped up, quite surprised by the sudden noise, and looked around. Taking a few minutes to refresh her memory, she remembered it was her PHS ringing! Going through her old junk in one corner of her room, she finally came across her old phone and immediately answered with a soft tone in her voice.

"… hello?"

"Yuffie!" the caller squealed in happiness. "I'm so glad you picked up!"

"… Tifa?"

"Yes!"

"Oh my gosh! I haven't heard from you guys in like… a bajillion years! I was starting to worry… but since you never called back… I thought that we weren't friends anymore…"

"Of course not! Friends forever!"

Yuffie smiled to herself. "So, what's up? How's Mister Spiky Head?"

"… Cloud? Well… he told me to call you, Barret and Cid, to meet up at the Gold Saucer."

"Hah! Gold Saucer? The thing still running?"

Tifa remained silent for a few moments before she replied, "Listen, will you please come? I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."

Yuffie leaned against her wall looking worried. "What? What's going on?"

"I don't know, but… will you come?"

"… of… of course I'll come! Count on that!"

"Thank you!" Tifa sighed with relief. "I'll see you later!"

"Bye…"

Yuffie removed the phone from her ear and bowed her head. As memories from long ago started to surface, she slowly lifted her head and stared at her materia shimmering in the sunlight, then slowly moved her head to her Conformer. She hadn't touched the thing in a long time… until today.

The young ninja gave out a slight grin and made her way towards her old friend as she lifted it from it's resting spot. It was strange, but, she knew that deep in her heart, something bad was going to happen too, and not because Tifa said so.

"Welp, sorry pops. Guess I'm gonna have to kick your butt later."

* * *

Just east from Wutai rested a small town called Rocket Town. Despite the town losing the rocket, ShinRa No. 26, the name remained. No one had the heart to change it, despite it not having any rocket at all. The town was then rebuilt immediately after the ship launched, causing the small town to be… not so small anymore.

Cid decided to reside at Shera's place. Throughout the months that passed by, Cid had thought differently of Shera. He began to feel comfortable and more trusting of her… and less aggressive. Shera remained the same sweet woman Cid knew a long time ago. They took the time to get to know each other even more… more of their lives, secrets, and times when they felt they really needed someone to protect them.

Nowadays, Cid hasn't been taking out his Tiny Bronco out for daily trips around the land anymore. He had been taking a ridiculously long break these past six months. Shera tried _everything _to make him active again, but he's only been worried about keeping his plane in tiptop condition.

Shera turned her head and sighed as Cid was practically screaming his lungs out at his helpers.

"Damnit! You people can't do anything right! It's _blue_ not frickin' _dark_ blue!"

"B… but is there really a difference?"

"Of course! One side of the wing is blue and the other side is dark blue! Get it right, damnit!"

"Y… yes sir! Sorry, sir!"

"That's _Captain_ to you!"

The window of Shera's house opened as Shera herself leaned out. "Oh Captain!" she said sarcastically. "Will you please leave these poor people alone for a while, and come inside for some tea?"

Cid waved his arms around. "Oh, Shera! Yes! I'll be right there!" He then turned and pointed at his helpers who were busy chiseling out the dark blue paint from one of the wings. "You heard the lady, take five!"

Without any reply, they quickly excused themselves and happily ran out of Shera's property as Cid happily made his way inside the house.

"Uhm… I know this is weird but," Shera started, trying to get Cid's attention away from his unfinished Tiny Bronco. "Uhm… how come you threw _this_ away?"

Shera reached into her pocket and pulled out Cid's PHS. Cid grunted and swiped the thing away from her hand.

"Che. The damn thing's broken!" he growled, balancing the phone in his palm.

"But… didn't a… Mister… Cloud give that to you?"

"… eh? You still remember him?"

"Shouldn't I? He was nice… I remember when he…"

"Damnit! Enough walking down memory lane already! Goddamnit!"

"I… I'm sorry!"

Cid leaned back on his chair and stared at his phone. Cloud… a name that he hadn't heard in a very long time. Ever since he left the team, he immediately wanted to return to the way things were, and possibly fix things in his life that he created in the past. But, after those long six months… things haven't been the same. He, somewhat, changed his attitude a bit and he was happy with that, but deep inside, he felt he should really do something. He actually wanted to call up his friends but… he thought that if he returned to the way things were… he would risk everything.

Cid shook his head and planted his cup hard on the table, causing Shera to jump back from the sudden noise.

"Y… Yes?" Shera finally said, quite worried at "Captain."

"… nah, nevermind," the pilot answered as he stood up, grasping the PHS tightly.

"Uhm… what are you going to do with that?"

"… I don't think I'll be needing this."

"What?" Shera snapped, getting up from her seat. "But… what if-!"

"Back in the crater, I've been thinking about many things. I… don't want to risk anything anymore. Now that I understand you more, I just…"

"I know," Shera interrupted. "But, I'm sure all your friends were thinking the same thing. But, you shouldn't let that stop you from letting out the old Cid. In fact, I quite miss the fellow dearly."

Cid snapped his head to Shera. "So, basically, you want me to start arguing with you like before?" he joked.

Shera giggled. "Wouldn't hurt."

Cid sighed and opened his hand, placing the PHS on the table. "I guess you're right. Heh, you gotta admit, the new me sure is boring as hell!"

"Yep!" she exclaimed as she nodded her head with agreement.

"Let's get to it!"

"Okay!"

Before Shera and Cid had a chance to do anything, the PHS suddenly springs to life as it rung several times in the awkward silence. The two couple snapped their heads at the loud device lying on the table.

"… the…! It…! WHAT!" they both said in unison.

Cid rubbed his head. "Ah! What? What? What!"

"Ah! Answer it!"

"# THAT!"

Cid gulped and reached to pick up the ringing phone. Finally activating it, he answered, attempting to sound calm and cool.

" HELLO!" he squawked loudly.

"Hello, Cid! I see you haven't changed a bit, hm?"

"… whoa! Is this… Ti… fa?"

"Yep! Nice to hear from you again."

"… y… yeah," Cid shook his head. "So! What the hell were you guys doing! I hope you didn't start anything without me!"

"Eh… we haven't been doing anything after we left."

"… oh, well… heh. Duh," Cid bowed his head, feeling like a total idiot.

"Anyway, Cloud called me earlier… and we have to meet him at the Gold Saucer."

"Wha? What the hell for? Gonna eat popcorn and watch a play or something?"

"I don't know. He just said to contact you, Yuffie, and Barret."

"Whoaho, the whole team, huh?"

"He didn't get into much detail, but… can you make it?"

With one final look at Shera and his Tiny Bronco that can be seen through the window, Cid nodded to Shera who smiled and nodded back.

"Hell yeah."

* * *

Just on the outskirts of Midgar, a quiet little town called, Kalm, was present. Barret and his adopted daughter, Marlene, resided there after he returned from the crater. Barret decided that he couldn't face the city of Midgar without being stabbed in the heart by his past memories. His old friends: Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge still remained in the front of his mind. He was obviously devastated about what happened many months ago. However, he didn't let those memories take over what he has right now… Marlene. The only thing he really cared about in the whole world.

Like everyone else, Barret received a call from Tifa. Unlike Cid and Yuffie who easily accepted, Barret couldn't. His number one priority was to take care of Marlene and help raise her to be a good kid, and nothing more and the last thing he ever wanted to do was to leave her again.

After he hung up on his old friend, he watched as Marlene was sleeping peacefully on the bed upstairs in one of the houses they were staying at. He smiled to himself, knowing that she was perfectly safe and nothing was going to harm her. Soon, his smile turned into a frown as he remembered what Tifa told him about something bad happening. He sighed at that and shook the thought out.

"They're crazy," he told himself. "There's nothing anymore."

"What's 'nothing anymore'?" a soft voice called out in the darkness.

Barret jumped back in shock. "Marlene!"

"Are you okay, papa?"

"Yes. You should be asleep now!"

"I know, papa… but, who were you yelling at?"

"… oh. It… was Tifa. But you really shouldn't…"

"Tifa?" the little girl said as she sat up on her bed. "Why would you yell at her? What did she want?"

Barret paused and finally answered with a sigh. "She just wanted to know if I could meet up with the gang."

"… oh. Are you… going away again?"

"No! Of course I'm not. I want leave you for anything."

Marlene crawled out of bed and sat next to her papa.

"How come?"

Barret turned his head to the girl. "What do you mean? I don't want to leave you again. I missed you so much the last time I left… and I was worried about you."

"I missed you too… but I wasn't worried at all."

Barret widened his eyes. "Hm?"

"Everyday, I keep saying to myself, 'be strong! And always remember that your papa is protecting you and the whole world!'"

Barret smiled and patted Marlene's head. He never really noticed Marlene being so responsible and mature like that. Barret started to feel like the kid and Marlene being the comforting parent.

"Thanks, Marlene," he sighed. "So… you think Tifa'll answer my call?"

Marlene happily nodded. "Uh huh!"

With that said, Barret picked up his old PHS, and dialed Tifa back.

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 2! Took me awhile to finish. Ehm… sorry if Barret's part was too short. It was late at night and I wasn't hyper enough to make it longer. :grunts: Next chapter is going to be like this chappie so… don't really expect anything "action..nee" until… maybe Chapter 4. Hope you liked this chappie! Please leave ze review!


	3. Reuniting of Old Friends Part 2

A/N: Okay, I lied in the last chapter. This one's gonna be different from the last chapter 'cause… eh… I just…decided:victory pose: Anyways, hope you enjoy:passes you popcorn: 

Summary: Cloud decides to talk to his friends in person. But he needs to find them first. Then, he finds out that his own dream is the key to unlocking what exactly the "evil force" is.

Disclaimer: FF7 still doesn't belong to meeeee!

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 3 

Reuniting of Friends Part 2

The scarlet colored skies gave out an innocent scenery as the crickets chirped in unison. As the sun retreated behind the tall mountains off in the distance, the moon mysteriously appeared in the dark sky filled with thousands of bright stars. A gentle breeze blew across, causing the top of the trees to sway in one direction.

Through the tall trees that continued dancing in the wind, a dark figure suddenly appeared, creating soft crunching noises as it made it's way through the dirt path of the forest. The same gentle breeze appeared once again, causing the figure to stop in its tracks. As it lifted its head towards the sky, the bright moon shone over, revealing Cloud dressed in red robes. After a few seconds, he continued walking deep inside the forest, unsure of what lies ahead of him.

The moon remained at its highest point in the sky, showing off its amazing luster to the earth. Clouds' robe twirled around as he leaned against a tree, sighing loudly to himself. Just when he thought he knew exactly where he was going, he ended up getting lost. He went through this forest a long time ago, but he didn't think he'd get lost so easily. Why, he didn't get lost when he passed through for the first time. Cloud grunted to himself as he folded his arms across his chest. As deep thoughts soon consumed his head, he didn't realize that he fell asleep.

"…"

A burst of light suddenly appeared as the brightness practically blinded Cloud, causing him to turn away. Darkness soon took over, consuming all but Cloud, leaving him with such an evil sensation flowing throughout his body. He quickly grasped onto his arms as his body started to feel numb. Images of Aeris praying in the darkness suddenly appeared. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at Cloud. Cloud gasped, resisting the powerful sensation flowing throughout his body.

"A… Aeris!" Cloud moaned in agony.

Aeris' image quickly dissolved away just before Sephiroth was about to engage his infamous assault to her. Soon, Tifa's image took over. Cloud looked up, with only one eye open.

"Tifa?"

Tifa smiled. "Cloud!" she cried out as she began running towards her friend.

Cloud slowly stood up, awaiting Tifa's arrival. Just when she was about to make contact with Cloud, she dissolved away, soon forming into Sephiroth. Cloud widened his eyes and jumped back, taking in the powerful sensation once again. Sephiroth grinned and pointed his all famous Masamune to the ex-SOLDIER.

"It's not over yet," he said with a deep tone in his voice. "I'm not through with you and your little cronies."

"Liar!" Cloud growled, getting ready for any surprise attacks. "You're the past!"

Sephiroth laughed and replied, "My death shall never remain in vain. It is _you_ who shall become my memory."

Cloud suddenly lunged forward, bringing out his oversized sword for his all time famous Omnislash, while Sephiroth remained in one spot. When he got close enough, Cloud brought his sword around and sliced right through his opponent. He quickly turned around, only to find Sephiroth's face right in front of his.

"You and this filthy planet _will_ fall."

"…!"

Cloud quickly opened his eyes and took a good look at his surroundings. Trees… the ground… chirping of crickets… the cool evening breeze. He sighed in relief, glad that he was back to reality. Cloud, who was now lying on his back, sat up and grasped onto his arms.

"… that dream again…"

With that thought stuck in front of his mind, he finally stood up and continued his journey through the dark forest.

No sooner that he left, a gunshot sounded off in the distance. Cloud quickly turned his head, reaching inside his robe. Silence filled the air for a long time. After one final look around, he shrugged it off and continued on. Another gunshot sounded off, only this time, it was aimed right at Cloud. Luckily, the bullet bounced off something hard inside his robe. As he quickly revealed the Buster Sword out in the open, he blocked three more gunshots from above.

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared no less than twenty feet away from the swordsman. Cloud narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better view of his opponent. The mysterious figure stepped forward into the moon's bright beam, revealing a tall man holding his rifle in one hand. Cloud slowly called back his Buster Sword and stared at the figure before him.

"Vincent..."

He bowed his head. "… Cloud."

The swordsman rubbed his head as he leaned against his sword. "You gave me quite a shock. I never expected you to be here."

"…"

"… uh… okay, I had a feeling you would."

"How long has it been?"

Cloud was quite surprised that Vincent sounded so curious about something. He shook that thought off and replied, "I believe it was… six months ago?"

"… truly."

"Yeah, well… one, two, or even three months can feel like a century."

An awkward pause took over as a light breeze brushed passed Cloud's red robe. He looked around before he finally remembered why he came here in the first place.

"I have a feeling that some kind evil force has surfaced this world once again. I know this sounds silly, but… I keep having these weird dreams about Sephiroth… and that his death was never left in vain. I know it's just a dream but…"

"And do you propose that 'evil force' is somewhat connected to Sephiroth?"

"… not sure."

Vincent stepped closer to Cloud at that. "… This world has been at peace for those six months, and I had time to observe this planet much more closely. And never have I heard of such things."

Cloud rubbed his head more. "It's complicated! But… it must be some sort of message..."

"… then it is your problem, am I correct?" Vincent responded flatly.

"No," Cloud said, shaking his head. "Even though I'm the main target, whoever is out there is also targeting us _and_ the world."

"… none makes sense."

Cloud bowed his head. "I know…" he whispered, lifting his head up. "Listen, I have to search for Red also, so… I'll explain everything later. If you can... can meet me at the Gold Saucer with the others?"

"Others?"

"Yeah, the whole gang."

Vincent whirled his cape around, his back now facing Cloud. "Maybe," he said, disappearing in the darkness.

Cloud remained still for a while and sighed to himself.

"See you later."

* * *

"An evil force?"

"I know it doesn't make sense… but I feel something's going to happen."

Now that Cloud found Vincent, he had to track down Red XIII. The only place that came to mind was Cosmo Canyon. Where else would he find a red lion-like beast in this world? As Cloud finally made his way past the tough terrain and into Cosmo Canyon, he was greeted by the villagers. With all the commotion going on, Red and his grandfather, Bugenhagen, came down and was surprised by their visitor.

Bugenhagen invited his old friend over to his lab as Cloud explained his little "evil force" problem. And, like Vincent, they both gave the same response.

"I have never heard of such things. You must be tired! Hoo Hoo hohohoo!" Bugen snickered, reaching over to drink his tea.

"You positive about this, Cloud?" Red asked, trying to cover up his grandfather's annoying laughter.

"Nothing has happened yet," he responded. "But I'm sure something's going to happen."

"Well, I would have detected something in my laboratory if something were to happen!" Red's grandfather responded, finally calming down.

Cloud tilted his head to the right, letting his eyes droop to that side. "That's true…"

"Dreams were made to visualize future events. Perhaps you could be right. I might as well use _you_ in my lab! Hohohooo!"

Red sighed. "Please, grandpa…"

"…"

"No, but I'm serious!" Bugen insisted. "Tell me, Cloud, where did your dream take place?"

"Uh… well… it was just… dark."

"… then… you'll just have to keep dreaming of that same exact dream until you can get a full picture of it."

Cloud nodded slowly. "… if that'll work."

"We're still unknown about this… 'evil force,' so you'll have to be our little information book."

"Very well," Cloud responded as he stood up from the chair. "So, you basically want me to… sleep and dream about it?"

"Won't that take a very long time?" Red wondered. "You can't exactly make yourself dream what you want to dream about."

"But! Premonition dreams were made to make the subject dream until he finds out the whole story… basically."

Cloud lifted an eyebrow. "So I'll be haunted by these dreams for a very long time."

"Now now, don't say that. Please, stay for the night, and tell us if you learned something new."

With that said, Bugenhagen exited out of the room and into his laboratory. Red XIII walked up to Cloud, wagging his brightly lit tail around.

"If you wish to, you may rest up in my grandfather's room."

"Thanks."

Red bowed his head and exited out of the house. Cloud stretched and made his way up to the bedroom, all set for his haunting dream to begin once again.

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 3! Arghy! My mind has wandered into this new realm of… realmneeness. :gasp: Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for Chapter 4… where… I was supposed to be doing "action-nee" stuff so… look forward to that. :victory pose: Please leave ze review! 


	4. True Conflict

A/N: Rawr and… welcome tooo… Chapter 4 of Silent Wind! Sponsored by: Squishy the Squid! "Where there are squids… there is a Squishy!" :Squishy does a little squid jig: Hah, I made Squishy up last year and he just… sprouted out of nowhere! Ah… :cough: I've been having awful writers blocks lately so… sorry if this chapter doesn't make any sense. I'm trying to _actually_ start the… _actual_ conflict. O.o Also! Thank you for the reviews! You have made my story very happy. :story smiles:

Summary: The Turks have met up unexpectedly to meet with a mysterious figure who seems to seek revenge on a certain someone. Meanwhile, Cloud's dream begins to haunt him once again as he finally realizes what it all means.

Disclaimer: FF7 still doesn't belong to me 'cause… I am just a crazy FF7 fan and I love it with all my heart. :clenches fists: Next to sugar... :sucks lips in:

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 4 

True Conflict

A lone flame on a candlestick danced as a hooded figure made its way down the spiral stairway of the ShinRa mansion. It is greeted by two of its associates on the bottom as it passed the candlestick to them. They slowly made their way through the long tunnel, dragging their long cloaks hard against the ground. A figure appeared in the back, clumsily running to catch up. It inadvertently collided with them, causing the flame of the candle to disperse into the darkness. The middle figure turned around and whacked the smallest associate hard on the head.

"Damnit! You haven't improved one bit!" it scolded the clumsy figure, as it quickly removed the hood, revealing Reno of the Turks.

The smallest figure also removed the hood, revealing Elena with a big bump on her head. "I'm sorry! It's just so dark down here!"

The tallest figure sighed. "You _were_ required an extra candle, am I correct?"

"… yeah, but, I didn't have anything to light it with after I handed the candle to you guys!"

"Ugh! Forget it!" the red head growled as he rubbed his forehead, quite annoyed at the moment.

"Do you know _why_ we are here, Reno?" Rude said, finally removing the hood that was covering his head.

Reno tilted his head back and folded his arms across his chest. The Turks were still up and running, however, since they worked side by side with the ShinRa, they had been basically running around in circles, not quite sure what to do anymore. Everything had remained neutral and not much action took place anymore. Reno and company decided to go their separate ways for a while, in hopes of finding any last remains of any ShinRa things… people… anything that would help them come back to life. After those six months, they had forgotten about why they had gone their own ways.

However, Reno had not forgotten why he had parted ways. During those long months, he had been lingering around in the ShinRa Headquarters, in hopes of finding anything that would help the Turks to magically reunite.

On the sixty-sixth floor in the conference room, he came across a neatly wrapped package labeled 'To: Turks' in bold red letters. The sender was not known, but that didn't stop Reno from opening it up. Inside, a blue colored whistle was seen with the letters: 'D I S L I N E W T N' engraved on it. Also, a note was found deep inside the package, which read: 'Come and join me at the mansion one week from today. Prepare yourself. He _will_ fall.'

A week later, Reno, Rude, and Elena unexpectedly met up at the same time at the entrance of Nibelheim, each wearing cloaks to cover up their identities.

Reno bowed his head and moaned, "I don't know." He lifted his head up at the tall man. "I think it had something to do with these whistle thingies…"

He took out his blue whistle out from his shirt pocket, as the two other Turks did the same. Each was a different color and had the same letters engraved in them.

Elena twirled hers around and sighed. "I couldn't figure out these jumbled up words… I hate these kind of things…"

"Yeah, I figured… dis… li.. new… tn… wouldn't exactly count as a real word…" the red headed Turk said, sticking the whistle in his mouth.

Rude scrutinized his whistle for a moment and mumbled to himself, "… its… no…"

The impatient Reno stuck his tongue out. "Don't waste your time with that mumbo jumbo. We're here to look for someone, remember?"

"What if this is a trap?" Elena said with an unsure tone in her voice.

"If it was… they wouldn't have told us to 'prepare ourselves.'"

"Ah… true, true…"

"…maybe… silent wind…?"

Suddenly, Rude's whistle started to glow brightly as Elena and Reno's followed after. An eerie high-pitched noise suddenly echoed throughout the long and dark hallway, creating a gentle gust of wind that soon formed into a furious hurricane. A figure formed inside the hurricane as the hurricane quickly vanished. Reno and company quickly drew out their weapons, ready for any surprise attacks. However, the figure that was formed inside the hurricane was only a statue of a woman and two small dragons that was lying on top of her shoulder. Elena withdrew her gun slowly and gazed upon the statue in awe.

"Wow… she's really pretty…"

"What the heck! Where'd this come from?" Reno blurted out, not even bothering to look at the statue.

"Maybe when I said… 'silent wind?'"

A crack suddenly appeared on the statue as it split into two. A ghost-like figure appeared from between the crack, revealing the woman and her black dragons. Her eyes slowly opened as it revealed her shimmering green aquamarine eyes. The Turks backed away, quickly aiming their weapons at the enemy. Reno stomped his foot on the ground as he pointed his nightstick at the ghost.

"Identify yourself!"

The ghost smiled as the black dragons' eyes opened up, revealing dark red colored orbs. "Glad you can make it."

Elena stepped forward. "What are you talking about?"

"He _will _fall…" the ghost whispered loudly.

"Who will?" Rude finally questioned.

"… leader… SOLDIER… he _will_ fall…"

* * *

Flashes of light revealed Sephiroth appearing and disappearing in the darkness. He finally appeared once again, drawing out his Masamune blade from its sheath. As the blade's luster shone through the darkness, it revealed Cloud holding out his oversized sword. They got into a battle stance and paused. Tension built up as a lone heart beat echoed throughout their ears. A few seconds later, the two foes charged as their blades clashed against each other, creating an ear-splitting noise. Cloud lunged forward, causing Sephiroth to lose his balance from his right foot. To make up such a disappointing act, he ducked underneath, avoiding Cloud's powerful slice through the air. Cloud quickly shifted his sword downward, but with the Masamune's long blade, Sephiroth was able to cancel out his opponent's attack by quickly running his blade through Cloud's blade, creating a sudden flash of light that blinded Cloud.

Cloud backed off and squinted his eyes in attempt to keep them open at all costs. Sephiroth was tricky and shouldn't be left to run freely. Cloud shifted positions, trying to find his opponent as soon as possible. The oversized sword quickly dropped to the side as a sudden strong weight on the blade caused Cloud to fall backwards. He shook his head and stared up at the grinning Sephiroth who immediately pointed the long blade just above Cloud's chest. Before Cloud could intercept any surprise attacks, his foe slowly dissolved, the particles soon forming into a figure that caused Cloud's eyes to widen.

"… Tifa!" he yelled to himself. Cloud had the sudden urge to call out her name again, but something deep within told him to refrain from doing so.

The fighter grabbed onto Cloud's shirt collar, lifting him off from the ground. The swordsman moaned in agony. His body felt numb all over and he had a hard time breathing. Hot tears streamed down Tifa's pale face as her eyes stared upon her prey. She slowly lifted her fist for an assault.

"… damn it all," was all she said before colliding her fist hard against Cloud's chest, causing Cloud to choke for a few seconds before coughing out clumps of blood onto Tifa. She slowly narrowed her eyes as she disappeared into the darkness, leaving Cloud helpless on the ground.

"You _will_ fall…" a voice whispered in the darkness. "… Sephiroth."

Cloud gasped and immediately sat up from his bed, panting like crazy. He stared at his hands only to find that they were just how he left them before he fell asleep. He sighed and collapsed on the bed, sweating.

"That dream…?" he said to himself as Red XIII's head popped up from the bottom floor.

"Are you alright up here, Cloud?" he asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

Cloud slowly turned his head at the four legged creature before responding with a shaky voice, "… that dream…"

"Oh?" Red said as he climbed up the ladder and walked into the bedroom. "Anything?"

"… everyone… everyone's in danger."

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 4! AH! Suspense. And… I'm soooooo sorry if you're confused at the moment. You're probably thinking, "The heck is this junk? You confuse meeee!" Well, I was too. I'm slow so, it took me a while to realize what the heck I just typed up. AH! I changed the storyline a taaad bit. :gasp: I'm so bad… anyway! Chapter 5… will, hopefully, answer some questions that had magically surfaced in your heads. :pokes head: So… look out for that!


	5. Contact

A/N:  Here be Chapter 5! This chapter is when things start to take off from the ground… FULL THROTTLE! In other words, things tend to happen in the most… unexpected times ever. Heh… ignore the rocket crack. I thought I had something. In fact, ignore everything. :cough:

Summary: After their final good-byes, everyone heads out to the Gold Saucer… via the Highwind. However, Cloud decides to stay behind, as an "evil force" has finally made contact to Cloud. (dinky summary… sorry.)

Disclaimer: All FF7 characters belong to SquareSoft people. However, the spooky statue ghost woman and her two dragons belong to me. :points:

**S****ilent Wind**  
Chapter 5 

Contact

"All set for the journey of your lives, men?"

"Yes, Captain!"

"You are in great risk, yet you're still willing to do what I say?"

"Yes, Captain!"

"TO THE GOLD SAUCER!"

Cid pointed upwards in a victory pose while his pilot members gave him a confused look. He looked at his crew as he shook his pointer finger in the air rapidly. Everyone blinked. Cid grunted and pouted at his useless crew.

"What?"

"The… Gold Saucer, Captain?"

"Damn right!"

"What about the rest of your friends? You're not bringing them along?"

"… they can walk! They got legs!"

"Captain!" the crew whined.

"Our duty is to bring you guys to the destination of your choosing. We won't feel good about ourselves if we only… bring you," the crew member ducked, realizing what he just said.

Cid sighed and bopped him lightly on the head. "Ah, damn you. Alright, alright… fine. Let's find those morons."

The crew saluted. "Yes, Captain!"

As they made their way inside the Highwind, Cid glanced back to Shera's house and spotted her image from one of the windows. He grinned and waved at her as she did the same also.

"Shera! Be sure the Tiny Bronco's finished by the time I return!"

Shera opened the window and stuck her head out. "Yes, Captain!"

With one finally glance to each other, Cid ran inside the Highwind as it took off towards the sky. Shera watched until the Highwind disappeared into the clouds.

"Good luck, my Captain."

* * *

A golden claw struck against an old tree as it fell hard on the ground. Quickly taking out his pistol, Vincent randomly shot things around him, shooting innocent animals as he did. He grunted as he fell to his knees, grabbing his head.

"Heh, still the same ol' Vincent, huh?" a deep voice said, causing Vincent to widen his eyes.

"I thought I was through with you, Chaos."

"For _that_ time. But now, things have been going on without me knowing."

"Nothing has been happening," he growled. "Go to hell."

Chaos laughed. "I'll be taking you as well."

Silence filled the air for what seemed like an eternity. Only the sounds of Vincent's constant panting was heard as he slowly stood up, ignoring the burning sensation flowing throughout his body. Chaos continued.

"You _knew_ what Cloud said was true. What brought to you such denial?"

"…"

"The fact that you're actually… afraid? Like… before?"

Vincent turned his head away, like Chaos was right next to him breathing in his face. "... I'm never afraid."

"Yeah, sure," Chaos snickered. "So, what are you gonna do? Hide in your little coffin for another thirty years, hoping that all this will pass so you won't have to deal with it anymore?"

"Be QUIET," the gunman hissed as he collided his right hand against another tree. "That's NOT it!"

"Then what? I know something's bothering you."

Vincent remained silent as he stared at the rising sun making its way through the tall trees of the forest. He didn't want to admit it, but something really _was_ bothering him. Not just the fact that the whole world might be in danger, but he didn't want anything to remind him of what happened in the past again. Not only had Vincent been living in solitude and studying the planet for those six months, he was trying to forget about the past and wanted to concentrate on reality. However, Lucrecia's image still haunts Vincent's mind. As much as he wanted to forget, he couldn't find the heart to do so.

"Hah, you _are_ afraid!" Chaos grinned, causing Vincent to turn away with a slight blush planted on his cheek. "Glad you have me to read your mind and admit things out loud, huh? And to think that you were such a mysterious person."

"…"

"Hey, I had to come back. You know that… 'cause I can r-"

Chaos stopped as the trees swayed in all directions, creating an ear-splitting noise that roared loudly in Vincent's ear. An airship suddenly appeared, blocking out the sun that had been glowing brightly. Vincent looked up and widened his eyes.

"… the Highwind?"

"Ooooiiiiiii!" Cid yelled as a rope ladder rolled down next to Vincent. "Damn! Took me forever to find you! Get on!"

The gunman backed up and hesitated for a moment.

"The crap! Grab the fricken rope already! Or do I have to lecture you again?" Chaos scolded him.

"Then what?"

"… well, you won't know 'til you get on!"

Finally coming to his senses, Vincent grinned and grabbed onto the rope as Cid gave the signal to start lifting off. Despite Vincent and his countless thoughts running throughout his head, he felt that his friends could need his help. After all, there wasn't anyone in the group who could easily hit its target dead on with a gun. Now was the time to leave the past behind… and concentrate on reality.

* * *

The door to the Seventh Heaven slammed shut as a sign that read, 'On Vacation' in big bold letters, swung around on the doorknob. Countless people who visit the bar frequently arrived and were already wondering why it was closed to suddenly. Tifa, who wanted to avoid any conflicts that should arise, snuck out in the back of the bar and quickly made her way out of the Sector Seven slums. Since she rarely ever went out of Sector Seven, she could barely recognize Midgar now, as it had been under construction for a while now.

Earlier, Tifa received a call from Cid, telling her that the Highwind was coming to pick her up. She rested on the steps of the train station and awaited her ride. With thoughts of Cloud and what he said earlier to her, made her really concerned. 'Is the planet in trouble again? Or… is there something bothering you?' Tifa sighed, regretting not asking Cloud what was bothering him. But just by Cloud's serious toned voice, she had a feeling something was definitely bothering him… but did he have to resort to bringing his friends along? Tifa folded her hands neatly on her lap.

"… is it _that_ bad?"

Before she could finish her thought, the Highwind suddenly appeared as a rope ladder rolled down next to her. Leaving her thoughts behind, she quickly grabbed the ladder and climbed up as the airship flew away.

* * *

"Hey pops! I'm leavin' ya so… bye!"

"HOLD IT, MISSY!"

Yuffie stopped and peeked her head inside her father's room. "What?" she whined.

Her father got up from his futon and slowly made his way to his daughter. "One final battle, hm?"

The ninja lifted an eyebrow and pouted. "Oh.. NOW you wanna battle me."

"… yes."

"Ugh," Yuffie sighed. "As much as I want to, I can't waste my precious time fighting you. My friends need me. That's more important than beating up my old man."

Her father snickered at that and patted his daughter's head. "Still the cocky little girl I raised, huh?"

Yuffie swiped his hand away and jumped out of the room. "Gah! I may be cocky, but I'm not little anymore!"

"Of course," he smiled.

Before Yuffie walked away, she tilted her head and pouted. "BUT, when I come back, I'll be glad to kick your ass anytime!"

* * *

The Highwind had already arrived for Barret, however, it was hard for him to leave Marlene again. As much as he wanted to stay with her, Marlene always found a way to comfort him and tell him that it was all right. She had confidence in her papa that he would safely make it back.

After one final hug, Barret headed towards the Highwind, glancing back at his daughter. With no tears shed, Marlene smiled and waved back with hope and confidence expressed in her eyes. Her papa nodded as he did the same. They both kept an eye on each other until they couldn't see each other anymore.

A woman, who was held responsible to take care of Marlene, appeared behind her.

"He'll be okay."

"… I know," Marlene said before bowing her head to hide her tears. "Before I know it, he'll be back."

* * *

"… that dream… it wasn't…" Cloud hesitated, not quite sure what to say.

Red XIII sat by his side and leaned forward. "Just tell me, Cloud."

He sighed and looked at Red with an unsure look upon his face. "It's strange but, this has nothing to do with us. But… somehow… it does."

"… okay… you lost me."

"I don't quite understand it myself, but, it has something to do with Sephiroth's memories, I think. It's some sort of message and… someone's out there looking for him."

Red leaned back. "Who is?"

"… that 'evil force.'"

"OHO! Cloud's up already?"

Both Cloud and Red jumped back by the sudden voice from Bugenhagen. He snickers as Cloud gave him a 'do that again and I'll kill you,' look.

"What's up, grandpa?" Red asked, walking towards him.

"It appears an airship has stumbled upon our little canyon."

"… Cid?"

"Righty-o! They're a waitin' for you guys."

Just when Red was about to go, he stopped to look back at Cloud who was now sitting up. "Cloud, you're coming?"

"Oh," he looked back. "Not yet. I'll meet you guys at the Gold Saucer when I'm ready."

"You sure? It's a pretty long way from here."

"I'll be fine."

With that said, Red said his final good-bye's to Bugenhagen and headed straight for the airship. Cloud watched until the ship flew high above the clouds. Bugenhagen appeared behind Cloud and sighed.

"Anything?"

Cloud's eyes dilated for a second as he whispered out the words, "… where is she?"

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 5! … this chapter felt long. Was it long? It had to be. Nya, almost had a little writers block going on. I rushed through some parts. :sighs: I'm so slow. We're not getting anywhere with this story are we? They didn't even reach Gold Saucer yet. :grunts: Slowpoke me… But never fear! Chapter 6, everyone'll be at the Gold Saucer. I guarantee it. :prays: Pwease? Anyways, hope you enjoyed this ridiculously long chapter and please leave ze review! 


	6. Old Foes

A/N: Rawr! Chapter 6! Uh… conflict No. 2! YES! WHOO! Alrighty, in this chapter… it's somewhat filled with… humor! That's right… HUMOR! Hm. I guess I was feeling… humor…ess when I typed this. :shrug: Oh, and… Merry Happy Pretty Eggs Day! May all the chocolate and sugar treats make you explode. :explodes:

To one of my reviewers: Ahahaa, yeah… he _does_ sound kind of like Slade. He's so cool and mysterious. :stares in awe:

Summary: Everyone finally arrives at the Gold Saucer. But they put aside their cheerful greetings as they come face to face with… what seems to be Sephiroth's old 'pal.'

Disclaimer: FF7 doesn't belong to me… only the spooky ghost woman and her cool dragons and the whole storyline thingamabobs belong to me. :points: Yoooshi!

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 6

Old Foes

Bullet shots sounded off as it echoed throughout the ShinRa mansion. Down the spiral stairway, flashes of light were seen, casting a shadow of what looked like Reno. Through the long dark tunnel, Elena, who was cornered against the wall, shivered in fear as the ghost woman floated towards her. Reno and Rude were already down and out on the ground at this point, leaving Elena to defend for herself. She quickly picked up her trusty gun and aimed it at the woman.

"W… what… what do you want?" Elena asked with a shaky voice.

The woman snickered as her two dragons flew towards the Turk, sitting on both of her shoulders. "You… will be my puppet."

Elena shifted her gun closer towards her opponent. "So… this was a trick all along!"

"A trick?" the woman snickered. "I need a human body, so that I can fulfill my revenge on that… SOLDIER…"

Elena shook with fear. 'SOLDIER?' she thought to herself. 'Is she looking for that spiky haired boy?' She shook her head, thinking that it wasn't appropriate to think of such irrelevant things at the moment. But somehow, it all fit in.

"… so, you are not after… us?"

The woman narrowed her eyes and backed away. "I needed a little help from you. You three… will help me fulfill my revenge."

"Once it has been fulfilled… will you let us go?"

"… yes."

Elena sighed at that. 'Just need to cooperate. I don't want anyone to get hurt…'

"However," the ghost continued, making Elena perk her head up. "I cannot say how long it will take. I need to possess a body. I need to see him fall before me with my own two eyes."

'She doesn't really make sense… but… it would feel really great to see that SOLDIER what's his name fall to his knees! The Turks have been wanting to see that since day one…' "Okay… but, what about… Reno and Rude?"

The woman bowed her head and grinned. "Oh, don't worry about them. They'll help also."

"… how?"

The two black dragons' eyes glowed brightly, giving out a strong aura that engulfed the two figures. After it settled down, the ghost and her dragons weren't seen. Reno and Rude slowly stood up as their eyes glowed a demonic red color. Elena followed. Her eyes opened, revealing green aquamarine colored orbs. She chuckled as she looked at her new form.

"I'm coming for you… SOLDIER."

* * *

"… EEEHHHHH? THEY LEFT WITHOUT HIIIMMMM?"

Bugenhagen lifted his eyebrows with shock as Cloud cornered him to the wall. Cloud grabbed onto the old man's beard and gave him the most pissed off look ever.

"Why didn't you stop them?"

"I… er, but you… you wanted to stay behind!"

"Damn! Is Cloud stupid or something? GOD!"

Bugen tilted his head. "Uh… Cloud? Is… is that you?"

Cloud grinned and let go of Bugen. "Damn… took me a while to take over his stupid body again."

Bugen widened his eyes then pushed Cloud back, making him fall on his bottom with a loud 'thud.'

"Look!" Bugen growled. "I don't know who you are… but, get out of Cloud's body, NOW!"

"Ohhh… someone's acting shitty," the swordsman said, not even worried by Bugen's warning.

"Who are you?"

Cloud slowly stood up, brushed himself off, and pointed upwards in a 'victory' type pose. "I AM……… someone that doesn't concern you."

"WHO ARE YOU!"

"Alright alright, sheeesh. Look, I'm Sephiroth, but-"

Bugenhagen started laughing like crazy, practically falling to the ground. 'Sephiroth' lifted an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest, not quite sure why he was laughing so much.

"The heck is so funny?" he growled at the old geezer.

The old man finally came to his senses, wiping out the last tear that was about to drip down from his eyes. "Hohohooo… for a second there, I thought you said, 'I'm Sephiroth.' Well, c'mon then, you better head to the Gold Saucer!"

"… I _did_ say I was Sephiroth. See! I said it again!"

Bugen paused and smiled. "Ah, yes yes. I think that dream has gotten to your head," he pushed 'Sephiroth' out of the bedroom and watched him fall on his bottom on the bottom floor. "Now now! You better hurry before everyone arrives before you do!" With that said, Bugen entered his lab and slammed the door shut.

'Sephiroth' stuck his tongue out at him and stood up, brushing himself off. "Geez… he didn't even let me explain myself. Oh well. I guess I better make Cloud do the rest of the work for me."

A flash of light suddenly appeared, 'causing Cloud's eyes to dilate for a few seconds before changing back to his same old blue eyes. He blinked for a few seconds and looked around, quite confused at the moment.

"… uh… what was I going to do…?"

Bugen's head peeked out of the laboratory door. "Gold Saucer! Cough cough!"

"… oh. Uh, okay. Good bye, Bugenhagen," he said without any questions about why he was standing in the middle of the room.

Bugen watched his friend leave as he narrowed his eyes. "… Sephiroth… is back?"

* * *

Tifa was pacing around the entrance of the Gold Saucer while her friends just watched her from afar. All throughout the ride, she was thinking of nothing but Cloud, wondering why he didn't want to take the Highwind. She just wanted to hug Cloud forever and slap him on the frickin' face for not seeing him for a while. Tifa sighed as she paused and paced some more.

Cid grunted and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. "Yo, Tif! Clam down. He'll be here."

"I KNOW!" the fighter snapped. "I can't WAIT until I smack him in the FACE! Does he realize how worried I am right now?"

"Aha! Smack him good!" Yuffie said with such enthusiasm, which made Tifa snicker to herself.

Putting Cloud aside for a second, Tifa shouldn't be acting this way towards her friends. Here she was, thinking about Cloud… making her mind rot with his name infecting every part of her brain, while, she should be thrilled that her friends were willing to put aside their every day usual things to help out with whatever Cloud was worried about. On the Highwind, she barely greeted everyone. Tifa shook her head and ran towards Yuffie and hugged her, while the ninja did the same also.

"I missed you guys," Tifa sobbed.

"Same here."

Red XIII smiled and walked toward Vincent's direction. Vincent was, as usual, by himself, so Red thought he could start one of his little conversations like they used to do.

"Vincent, it's been a while," Red started.

Vincent nodded and bowed his head. "It has."

"I never really expected you to accept this."

"…"

"No offense, of course."

"None taken."

They remained silent for a moment, then Red broke the silence. "Did you know what was happening already?"

"… somewhat. I sensed a little disturbance in the lifestream."

"… really."

"I'm not sure for myself… but what Cloud said before… might be true. That there _is_ some kind of evil force out there… lurking behind the shadows."

Red got to his feet and looked away. "A scared thought, yes?"

'Scared? Hm. I don't want to get into that right now.' Vincent said to himself, ignoring the fact that Chaos was snickering in his mind.

Meanwhile, Cid and Barret were catching up on 'manly men' kind of things.

"Yo, Barret, next time, we should meet each other on a regular basis. I see you haven't been getting out that much."

"Same to you, Cid. You look like a wreck."

"_I_ look like a wreck? What about you! You're huge!"

"… this is how I always look."

"Oh, heh. My bad."

"Lookit lookit!" Yuffie exclaimed to Tifa, waving around a little brown bag. "I found _all_ of my materia!"

"That's great, Yuffie." Tifa smiled.

"Say… you wouldn't happen to bring some of _your_ materia, hm?"

Tifa tilted her head back with half a smile spread on her face. 'Okay,' the fighter thought. 'She hasn't changed one bit.'

"Oi!" Cid called out to the ninja. "Quit being a little brat and stop bugging people about their materia already!"

Just before Yuffie could pull out her trusty shuriken and attack the pilot, a cart suddenly pulled up on the Ropeway. Tifa ran towards it, awaiting for Cloud's appearance. The door slid open as a black shadow of the famous leader was casted out. He finally stepped out of the cart and gave a one-stroke wave.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," he said smiling at Tifa.

With hot tears streaming out of her eyes, Tifa ran towards Cloud and tackled him to the ground, giving her child hood friend a very shocking greeting.

"Cloud…" she sobbed, choking through her tears.

"Tifa," Cloud said as she finally got off of him. "It seems like you haven't ch-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Tifa smacked Cloud really hard on his cheek, making him fall backwards. He slowly placed his hand on the burning cheek and looked at Tifa, who had a very angry face on.

"I've been so worried! Why didn't you come when the Highwind picked you up? You traveled from Cosmo Canyon to here? Are you hurt? What were you thinking!"

Cloud grinned as his little question lecture began once again. He slowly got up and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, causing Tifa to stop her little 'lecture' and blink with shock. He gently brushed past Tifa to greet his other friends, leaving his friend to smile to herself.

"Heyeee!" Cid grinned, smacking the old leader hard on the back. "You've been workin' out all this time, aye?"

"Not exactly."

"You seem different!" Yuffie smiled. "Is it the hair?"

"I had it cut a little…"

Cloud's eyes made its way toward Vincent. 'Glad you can make it, Vincent,' he said to himself. Vincent seemed to get the message as he nodded his head.

"Awright, you!" Barret suddenly blurted out. "Why're we here? I had to leave poor Marlene alone…"

The leader rubbed his head. "Sorry, Barret."

"So, can you tell us what's been bothering you?" Tifa said in the back as she walked towards the group. "I've been wondering about that ever since you called."

Everyone else nodded in unison, agreeing to what Tifa just said. Cloud looked around and sighed.

"I had this strange dream every time I fell asleep. It had to be some kind of message… warning me about something. Something's going to happen… and we're about to be stuck in the middle of it. "

"Not only that," Vincent added in the back. Everyone turned their heads towards the person whom they never expected to say something so suddenly. "I apologize for not saying this before, Cloud, but… what you said before was right. About… 'being connected with Sephiroth.'"

"WHAT!" Cid yelled out in shock. "I thought he went ka-poot! Don't tell me he's back!"

"I detected a slight disturbance in the lifestream. We all know what happens when someone dies. They come back to this planet as part of the lifestream. Perhaps, Sephiroth is..."

Cloud stomped his foot and punched in the air. "RIDICULOUS! I defeated him! He's GONE!"

"You _are_ connected to him, right? He's calling out to you."

"… connected…"

Before he had a chance to think, two explosions were heard from above. Everyone quickly looked up and spotted a helicopter… similar to the ShinRa's. Cloud ran towards the helicopter as it descended towards the ground. He narrowed his eyes as three figures climbed out of the vehicle. None other than…

"… the Turks."

Rude and Reno drew out their weapons and aimed it towards Cloud's group. Everyone else took out their weapons as well, ready for any sudden attacks. Elena walked towards the leader and examined him.

"Well, well… you must be the 'experiment' Hojo's been talking about."

"… what are you doing here?"

"Hm. I sense that you have grown some sort of bond with him, haven't you, experiment."

Elena snickered as she brushed past Cloud, making him growl and turn around. "Answer my question!"

The woman stopped and turned her head towards Cloud. "I want to draw _him_ out of you."

'What?' the swordsman said to himself. "Draw… _who_ out?"

"Oh? You don't know? You poor thing."

Cloud growled and took out his Buster Sword, (I still wonder where he gets it from…) pointing it towards Elena. She snickered and faced Cloud, releasing a black aura from behind. Without any hesitation, Cloud ran towards her, shifting his sword for a quick attack. Elena lifted her hands in front of her as her green aquamarine colored eyes glowed furiously.

"Come OUT you coward!"

At that, Cloud's eyes dilated once again, soon changing into Sephiroth's green eyes. He shook his head around, finally coming to his senses. Elena grinned and aimed her weapon at the SOLDIER.

"So, you finally returned, Sephiroth."

AVALANCHE widened their eyes and shifted into their battle stances. Cloud (or… Sephiroth… eh heh…) turned towards the angry group and waved his hands up and down.

"No, no… I'm Cloud, see?"

"Silence! I've been seeking revenge on you!" the woman growled.

"Can't say the same thing to you… 'cause… I have NO idea who you are. Why don't you reveal your name to me?"

Elena grinned. "A name… you might know me as Number Thirty-four."

Sephiroth widened his eyes. "…!"

"However," she shifted her eyes towards Reno and Rude who were still in their battle stances. "I will take the name of the words that drew me out to this world… for now, my name shall be… Silent Wind."

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 6! Arg... :rubs head: dinky dinky dinky ending! Argy:calms down: Whoo, anyways, it seems confusing, I know. I wanted to put in how Sephiroth got into Cloud's body, but I didn't think it would go well with this chapter. So! Next chapter is when I'll start getting down to details. :pounds fist in palm: Welp!… ow. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave ze review! 


	7. Disturbed Lifestream

A/N: Heyyee! Sorry for the long wait. I had like… horrible writers block… and I was on the verge of losing interest in this. :loud gasp: But, after looking at a bajillion pretty pictures of Vincent and other FF7 things, I decided that I had to make Chapter 7… and I got loads of many ideas.. but I still think this chapter is a little.. meh. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Summary: Silent Wind reveals herself as an experiment of Hojo but was soon forgotten by him because of a newcomer experiment. Then, we find out that due to Sephiroth's return, it has created a disturbance within the Lifestream. (long summary… eee)

Disclaimer: All the following FF7 stuffs I put in this here story doesn't belong to me. :points: But the ghost woman and her dragons belong to me. And… I should draw her one day…

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 7

Disturbed Lifestream

Sephiroth, stared into the eyes of 'Silent Wind' as she smirked, waiting for him to answer to her ever so shocking comment about herself. Meanwhile, AVALANCHE had been fairly confused about the whole situation. 'Sephiroth in Cloud's body?' 'What?' 'Is this a joke or something?' Things that filled their minds at the moment. They would have attacked long before, but thanks to Reno and Rude, who now had them cornered and no where else to go, stopped them from doing so.

Tifa, who seemed extremely worried at the moment called out, "Cloud! What's going on? Do you know her?"

Cloud's head turned towards the worried fighter, revealing his now green colored eyes. Tifa widened her eyes and shook her head, telling herself that it just couldn't be true. That Cloud… is now Sephiroth…?

The swordsman then resumed to his opponent. SW (Silent Wind) grinned and pointed Elena's gun at him as Sephiroth, about to reach his 'Masamune,' pulled out Cloud's Buster Sword instead. He grunted and narrowed his eyes.

"Number Thirty-four… so… you were an experiment of Hojo as well…"

"Hardly. You can say I was a _failed_ experiment. Just like the boy whose body you have taken over."

Sephiroth lifted an eyebrow. "Failed experiment, huh? Not like me."

"That's why I have been seeking revenge on you for quite some time."

"…"

Elena's arms lifted to her sides with clenched fists, giving out a demonic aura.

"I have been an experiment of Hojo even before _you_ have came. I am Number Thirty-four, because the previous experiments he tried to make with the same DNA had failed. I was the only one that had been a success… until… he decided to take his experimentations a step further. Taking advantage over the woman, just because she just adored science… he convinced her that everything would turn out fine. Not fine for me. Days have passed by and my form started materializing into rock. No matter how many times I've called out, he would just ignore me and concentrate on… 'Sephiroth.' That name… was stuck inside my head. I would never forget that name… even the day I die. Hojo finally noticed my form and trashed me away one day. I may have been gone, but my spirit hasn't. Since then, I have acquired abilities that were quite unknown to man. I was able to find you in this so called 'Lifestream,' and have you enter a temporary body that had been in contact with the Lifestream more than anyone else."

Sephiroth wrinkled Cloud's nose and lifted an eyebrow. "What's the point? You're not exactly going to defeat me. Only this boy's body."

"But what's interesting with the two of you… is that… you are somewhat similar. Perhaps… a clone? Either way, I would defeat this clone's body _and_ your spirit as well."

Sephiroth grunted and lifted Cloud's oversized sword in front, practically losing his balance due to the extreme weight of the blade. SW called out Elena's gun once again and shot the blade, creating an ear-splitting noise that caused Cloud's body to flinch. With his guard down, the woman called out her black dragons that suddenly appeared above, and began constricting the man's hands.

"Cloud!" Tifa yelled out.

"Be quiet, you scum!" Reno yelled back at the girl.

Tifa couldn't take anymore. Her friend was in trouble and she was just standing around doing absolutely nothing. She clenched her fists and punched Reno to the ground. Rude backed up his friend and shot a bullet to her. Luckily, Yuffie's shuriken blades sliced through the bullet before it could reach Tifa. The red headed Turk slowly stood up and called out his fire magic, creating fire-like figures that surrounded AVALANCHE. Everyone got into their battle stances and lunged towards their (literally) hot opponents.

With the Buster Sword still in his hands, Sephiroth was still able to attack his opponent, but not quite well. He lunged forward as Elena jumped away and called out her magic spell, 'wind.' The swordsman clumsily fell backwards and grunted to himself.

'Damnit! How does this guy use this sword anyway?'

His thoughts were cut short as he quickly rolled away from Elena's hard stomp to the ground.

He slowly stood up. 'Shit!'

"Stay still!"

"Owwwww, damnit!" Cid grabbed his arm and quickly dodged the 'fireman's' assault. "Anyone here happen to have some water! That would definitely help right now!"

"Don't be tellin' me dat!" Barret yelled at the pilot as he shot several bullets at his opponents, creating a massive hole in the center of their guts. Unfortunately, the holes regenerated themselves and attacked once again.

A barrier suddenly appeared and grew bigger, pushing out all the firemen, including Reno and Rude, outside. Tifa, who was responsible for the barrier clenched her fists as the barrier grew stronger, practically overpowering Reno's firemen, causing them to dissolve away. Reno and Rude's eyes then turned a pure white color. Soon, the barrier disappeared and everyone made a quick run over to the other fight.

The black dragons whimpered on the ground as Sephiroth planted his foot on top of their tiny heads.

"Useless pieces of garbage."

"AHH! NO! MY PRECIOUS PETS!" SW sobbed loudly, actually showing off her weak side.

Sephiroth grinned. "Well, well. Who's a poor thing now?"

"Let them go!"

"… nah… I'm too lazy…"

SW growled and quickly shot two bullets at him, however, Cloud's huge blade protected the bullets from passing through as it bounced right off the tough steel. The woman smirked.

"You remember now," she started as a gust of wind appeared underneath and it slowly lifted Sephiroth off from the ground, allowing the dragons to fly towards their master. "I still have these powers."

"Che. Cheap magic trick."

Two bullets shot towards the woman, missing her by just a centimeter, however, it left quite a big gash on her cheek. She growled and turned towards the source of the attack. Vincent twirled his guns around and shot two bullets again, this time though, SW dodged them no problem. But, without realizing another presence behind her, she was tackled to the ground by Red XIII who growled furiously at her.

"Hey! She's MY opponent!" Sephiroth yelled from above, waving his arms around. "Hey, hey!"

Elena grunted as she tried freeing herself, but failed to do so. "Fools! Let me go!"

"And what?" Tifa growled at her. "What the hell is going on? Why are you guys acting like you're being possessed?"

"Gah! Were you _not_ paying attention to my little speech?"

"I hate lectures… so I didn't even bother to listen," Yuffie grinned.

"No wonder you show no maturity in this group whatsoever."

Yuffie pouted. "HEY!"

Just then, the ground began shaking around violently, making everyone seem like useless rag dolls being thrown around randomly. The swordsman, wondering what the heck was going on, stared down and watched the ground crack into several pieces.

"What the hell is going on!" Cid wondered, trying his best to stand on his two legs.

Vincent stood unusually still as cold chill circulated his whole body. "… the Lifestream…"

"What!"

"… something has disturbed it…"

* * *

Bugenhagen paced around his laboratory, stopped to scratch his chin, then continued pacing around. The thought of 'Sephiroth' actually returning had him thinking about it for some time. Was this even possible? Is he really alive and talking? Why Cloud? Questions that started floating around in his head. He regretted not asking Cloud (or Sephiroth :cough: ) for more information about his dream.

The old man stared at his contraption before entering it. A hologram of the planet appeared and Bugen scrutinized it for a few moments. After a while, he stepped back and sighed.

'Something is wrong," he said to himself. 'Perhaps… the appearance of "Sephiroth" is responsible for the disturbance of the Lifestream?'

The image of the planet began sprouting out the Lifestream as it circled around the planet. Bugen leaned towards the hologram and tilted his head.

'… everyone was exposed to the Lifestream… but since Cloud was in contact of it several times…' he paused then continued. '… and Sephiroth became part of it… then it's possible that the Lifestream could-'

Before he could finish, his contraption started making noises and the hologram of both the Lifestream and the planets gave out a powerful beam of light that engulfed Bugen in it. Trying his best to find out what was wrong, he stared into the bright light and watched as the Lifestream started forming into a vortex, surrounding the whole planet.

"… it can't be…"

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 7! The ending was… eehh… kind of... off. But! Did you understand what's going on? Yes? Maybe? Hm. Heh, my lil twist in the story. I have everything planned... :evil cackle: Anyways! I hope you enjoyed this story and please leave ze review! 


	8. Deep Within the Truth

A/N: How long has it been… like… a week since I typed up a chapter for this story? Sorry about that. This week was like… so rough. I actually spent some time concentrating on school matters. But, now that it's a Friday… I'm all happy happy and I can finally type up stories again! 'sides, I had writers block. I actually still had it while I was typing this so… please go easy on me if I put any mistakes in. :sigh:

Summary: The Lifestream goes out of control, which led to Sephiroth, Silent Wind and their other souls to be sent inside the Lifestream… where Cloud meets someone he hasn't seen in a very long time.

Disclaimer: FF7 doesn't belong to meeee… only the dragon lady does… and I want to draw her someday…

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 8 

Deep Within the Truth

'Che. Disgusting trash,' SW growled to herself, making a disgusted look on Elena's face. 'I had a feeling this would happen.'

The Turk's eyes dilated and soon returned to Elena's normal eye color. She blinked a lot before realizing she had been pinned down by Red XIII. She shrieked, surprising the beast-like creature that jumped away from her.

"What is the meaning of this!"

"Not now!" Red XIII responded, quickly moving her out of the way from a falling plastic Chocobo.

The cracks on the ground grew bigger, separating each AVALANCHE member away from their friends. The earthquake suddenly stopped, creating an eerie silence that filled the air. Suddenly, a sprout of the Lifestream emerged from underneath, followed by even more that randomly shot out. The Lifestream then intertwined with each other and quickly headed up towards the sky, almost hitting Sephiroth on the way up. He paused then looked up, narrowing his eyes.

"… this… is not good."

"Daaaammnnn…" Cid said as his cigarette fell out from his mouth. "Looks like it's really pissed off."

"W-Why's the Lifestream-!" Yuffie started, quite shocked at the scene before her. "Where is it going?"

"I don't know…" Tifa responded, zoning out as she was looking at the stream flow up towards the sky.

"I-It's looking for something…"

Reno helped Rude sit up. "Shyeah. Probably the soul she took from it, right?"

"..."

Sephiroth managed to make it to the ground as Tifa ran towards him. AVALANCHE, Reno and Rude made their way to the center of the crumbled Gold Saucer entrance.

"What should we do! Everyone's in trouble!"

He turned away. "Not my problem."

"Cloud!… Sephiroth!… whoever you are! I know that you know something about this!"

"I know nothing," he responded flatly, rudely walking away from the worried girl.

"Impossible," a voice said out of nowhere.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and turned around, only to find himself face-to-face with the ex-Turk, Vincent. The dark haired man examined the light haired man's eyes before walking around him. He finally stopped and looked up at the Lifestream streaming towards the sky.

"The Lifestream is filled with souls from those who perished. They return to this world to heal the planet. It's the planet's so called, 'blood.'"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes as it glowed brightly. "Don't think I don't know that."

"Now," Vincent continued, "what do you think would happen if one of the souls escaped? …disturbance within the Lifestream."

"Think of it as losing blood," Red XIII added. "You feel a little weaker for a while until you produce more. But, it doesn't seem to work that way for the Lifestream."

"It needs to keep itself balanced… and with a soul lost, more might escape through."

"Geez! First of all, I never intended to come out and second of all, it was Number Thirty-four's fault! So, quit blaming me!" the swordsman turned around and grunted to himself. He gave out an apologetic look to no one, but it seemed like everyone could see clearly as they remained silent.

"But, there's something I don't get. She was dumped a long time ago… so, how come her soul wasn't brought into the Lifestream?"

"She turned into rock, duh!" Yuffie blurted out.

"So you _were_ paying attention, girl!" Barret sighed loudly as he rubbed the ninja's head.

"But, still… I wonder what exactly the experiment was about…"

"AHHHHH!"

Everyone quickly turned to Elena who suddenly let out a loud screech. She slowly pointed up to the Lifestream as it began forming into vortex. The Lifestream rotated, creating a huge dark hole within, shooting out pieces of the Lifestream, that looked like spears, towards the ground as it made its way through the earth. Everyone quickly dodged the falling spears as they jumped across the huge cracks and onto the other side. Before Sephiroth and Elena could move out of the way, the spears of Lifestream went straight through their is chest, making them immobile. The souls inside each of the bodies slowly made their way outside and floated towards the vortex that sucked them in a blink of an eye. Cloud and Elena both fell to the ground in unison with black colored eyes.

* * *

Through the darkness of the vortex, the newcomer souls made their way through, soon arriving at a pleasant scene of a meadow. However, cutting the thought of such pleasance, the souls dropped into a small pond, which was surrounded by what seemed to be people dipping their feet in the water. A big splash was created, causing all the occupants to run out of the area. 

Sephiroth, followed by SW, popped out from underwater and panted for air. Sephiroth looked around and smacked the water, splashing the woman's face.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?" he growled loudly.

SW shook the water out of her face. "Where the heck are we?"

"ANSWER MINE FIRST!"

They both paused, noticing bubbles in between them. SW gave a disgusted look to the swordsman who shook his head around.

"Not me!"

Cloud and Elena's heads quickly burst out from underwater, causing Sephiroth and SW's eyes to widen. The spikey haired man coughed up water and slowly opened his eyes, only to see his old foe stare back at him with a "what the heck?" look on his face. Cloud gasped and dunked Sephiroth's head underneath without thinking.

"AGH! SEPHIROTH'S BACK!" he yelled in Elena's face.

She squinted her eyes before wiping her face clean from his spit. Completely ignoring his loud comment, she looked around the area, spotting people happily running around and resting underneath the bright warm sun.

"Where are we?" she asked to no one in particular.

Sephiroth's head slowly resurfaced, scaring the heck out of Cloud. "We're inside the Lifestream."

SW laughed at that. "Ahaha! Yeah… right. I don't feel dead…"

"… how can you feel dead…?" Elena mumbled to herself.

"…I'm serious." Sephiroth added.

She paused. "… WHAT! W-WHERE!"

"Ah-! I see more souls have joined us!"

Everyone turned their heads towards a young man with long dark hair. He grinned and offered to help them out. After helping the wet newcomers out of the pond, he grinned once again and looked at them for a while, mostly concentrating on Cloud who just seemed confused at the moment, then he looked at Sephiroth and smiled.

"Hey! Where the heck have you been?"

Sephiroth turned away. "I got kicked out…"

"Hah! Really?"

"AHEM!" Elena coughed loudly, trying to get everyone's attention. She smirked as everyone turned towards her direction. "Is this really the Lifestream?"

"Indeed it is!" the young man smiled. "We frolic… and… give away energy to heal the planet! Ooo… and to think we had it easy after we died."

"That's rather inappropriate."

"Yeah? Ah, well."

"Have you felt any disturbances while I was gone?" Sephiroth asked.

"Mmmm… well, there was a slight earthquake in here before... then a huuuggee one… like… a few minutes ago. I swear, everyone was acting quite strange at that. But, it finally stopped when you guys came in here."

"... why is that?"

"No clue. But, everyone kept complaining about some 'evil spirit' or something. "

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and glared at SW who was busy kicking the grass. She looked up and lifted an eyebrow.

"… what?"

"It was you."

"…"

"You're the one responsible! Because… you never became part of the Lifestream. That's what it was looking for! You were _meant_ to come here!"

"Che. It was looking for you too, remember? Besides, Hojo didn't know that when he finally trashed me like… one year later, now did he?"

"I have a feeling that you weren't supposed to materialize into rock. You said you acquired new abilities, right? Was that one of yours?"

"…"

"… Zack."

The black haired man widened his eyes and turned around, only to find Cloud standing in front of him with a sad face on. Cloud resisted the urge to punch his old friend in the face for not noticing him before, but he had stopped himself. Zack gave out a slight smile to his friend who continued staring straight into his eyes.

"… Cloud."

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 8! I just love cliffhangers… don't you? Muahahaa.. ah.. I'm so evil. Hm, anyways… :slams hand on a table: I say... this chapter turned out pretty good actually… considering I had writers block as I wrote this. Oo; I read it over and over… trying to catch anything that sounded weird... but, all is good. :nods: Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave ze review! 


	9. Now or Never

A/N: Ah! I finally came up with Chapter 9! This is where things get kind of complicated. I was confused so… it took me a while to edit the whole thing, trying to make it sound sense. :scratches head: Hm, anyway, thanks for those reviewers for reviewing!

Ah, and to Ri-kun, you'll know why Bugen didn't do that… in the next chapter.

Summary: AVALANCHE and the Turks talk to someone they didn't expect about how to return Cloud and Elena's souls back inside their bodies… while, Cloud, Elena and Number Thirty-four realize that if they don't escape soon… coughcoughspoilercoughcough

Disclaimer: FF7 doesn't belong to me… only the dragon lady does… and I STILL want to draw her… dang… I'm so lazy.

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 9 

Now or Never

"Cloud! Please, answer me!"

Right after the souls within Cloud and Elena's body had disappeared inside of the vortex, the Lifestream returned inside the earth and all was calm… except for AVALANCHE and the Turks. They obviously noticed the lifeless bodies of their fallen friends, and they had been wondering what had happened to them, completely ignoring that the whole world could have been in danger once again. Cloud and Elena's eyes remained a solid black color and their bodies were as cold as a harsh winter storm.

Tifa continued to shake Cloud's body and call out his name hundreds of times, hoping that he would just wake up and they could get on with the rest of their lives. But, that wasn't the case. Reno was the same thing, only, he seemed kind of pissed that one of his crew mates was down and out like that. He pounded his fist hard on the ground and yelled right into the woman's face.

"WAKE UP, DAMNIT!"

"Reno, please."

Rude had been trying to calm down the red head for a while, but, none of his methods worked. He gently grabbed onto his friend's arm and pulled him back, but Reno wasn't in the cooperative mood at the moment. Rude sighed, and watched his friend continue yelling at someone who wasn't going to be coming back anytime soon.

"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?" he yelled to no one in particular. "W-WHAT-"

Several ear-splitting gunshots suddenly shot up towards the sky, silencing all that was making such a big fuss about their fallen friends. Everyone turned towards the source of the noise, which was Barret. He shifted his machine gun hand towards the Turk and growled.

"'nuff already! It's bad enough that Cloud's unconscious! We don't need to get anymore frustrated with yer fricken yelling!"

Reno, really pissed at what the big guy said, quickly stood up and clenched his fists. "HEY! You were doing the same thing!"

"You're the one responsible for all this!"

"We didn't know that this would happen! If we did, I would have done something sooner!"

"Pathetic."

Rude's quick reflexes immediately stopped Reno from running over to Barret and knocking the stuffing out of him. He grunted as Reno's fists were flying everywhere, almost hitting him in the head.

"Please, we'll find out a way to fix all this… and help return Elena back to normal."

The red head stopped at that and moaned, stomping his foot hard against the ground.

"Obviously, it was the Lifestream," Red XIII finally said in the back. "Perhaps… my grandfather can figure out how to obtain Cloud and Elena's souls back. He knows more of the Lifestream than any of us. He's bound to find something."

"I'm afraid… he won't know everything."

Everyone turned at the low toned voice that just unexpectedly replied. Two black figures descended from above and landed on top of a boulder. Reno pointed and shook his finger at the figures.

"GAH! It's that freaky woman's dragons!"

The dragons grunted as the bigger one snorted out smoke from its nostrils. "Freaky just doesn't do justice… more like… a simpleton."

"What the heck! How did you get out of the Lifestream?" Yuffie asked the dragons.

The smallest dragon flapped its wings. "We were never in the Lifestream to begin wit-"

"OMIGOSH YOU CAN TALK!"

"… eh… yeah."

"Please! Tell us how to return Cloud's soul to his body!" Tifa said with a shaky voice.

"Hey! And Elena!" Reno grunted at Tifa who gave him a dirty look.

The dragons looked at each other for a while then looked back at the worried team members. The bigger dragon flew towards the worried fighter and tilted its head at her.

"… you seem to be very good friends with this… 'Cloud,' yes?"

Tifa nodded slowly and responded with a soft voice, "… yes."

The dragon then made its way towards Reno who backed away from it, like it was some kind of contaminated object that he could poisoned from. It tilted its tiny head and narrowed its red glowing eyes.

"… you are the same…"

"Hell yeah! Gimme the soul already!"

The dragon grunted. "Alright," it turned towards the rest of the teammates. "My brother and I will help you find the souls of your fallen friends… however, the only way to do that, is to have our so called, 'master' return them… because she is the only one who can do that."

"Crap that!" Cid yelled, stomping his foot hard on the ground. "I ain't trusting any freaky woman with two freaky talking dragons!"

The smallest dragon whacked Cid in the head with its tiny wing. "Hey! We said we would help you! Our 'master' has gained several unbelievable powers from that experiment, and it's quite obvious that she could help!"

"Oh yeah?"

"She had the power to release Sephiroth's soul from the Lifestream and plant it inside of Cloud's body," Vincent added to the dragon's last comment. "But, how is she supposed to do that… when she is a soul herself?"

"The only way possible… is to have her take in that 'DNA' that made her a solid body. Since the Lifestream won't accept anything that's not a soul, she would then return to the outside, but it's risky… because the Lifestream would then resume to what happened a few hours ago."

"… she didn't have a body to begin with?"

"Yes, unfortunately, we do not know what kind of specific DNA Hojo had used on her… but, if it's possible to reach Hojo's lab…"

"There is a lab," Tifa spoke up, gesturing her hands to where Nibelheim might be located from the Gold Saucer. "It's the ShinRa Mansion…"

The biggest dragon nodded to its brother and turned towards everyone. "Ah, yes. Of course… that will do fine. Where there is a lab, there are always chemicals lying around."

"But," Red XIII quickly responded, "why should we trust you?"

"…… the Lifestream will keep Cloud and Elena's soul in tact before it's too late."

"… what are you talking about?" Reno said, sounding a little worried.

"New souls that enter inside the Lifestream have only forty-eight hours until they become one with it. It will take a lot of magic power to release them. So, if we fail to return their bodies back within the those hours… we'll never get them back."

"Answer my question!" the beast growled, pissed that the dragon completely ignored his important question from before.

"… because, we're the only ones that have the information on both Silent Wind and how to bring her back. So, it's your choice if you want to kill us… and leave your friends in this dangerous situation. We don't care."

Red XIII grunted and continued staring at the two black dragons as he bowed his head down. 'Just… who are these things?'

* * *

"Guh! I'm tired of just standing around! I came here to fight the SOLDIER… and that's what I'm gonna do!" 

Number Thirty-four, quite impatient at the moment, just wanted to punch Sephiroth's face in. She got into a fighting stance and began punching right in front of her opponent's face. Sephiroth gave her a weird look, sighed, and shrugged, thinking about how stupid she really was.

"Whatever. C'mon, bash my face in so we can get it over with," the swordsman said flatly, obviously not interested in what the woman does.

SW grunted and lifted her hands in the air, trying to call out one of her magic abilities. After a few seconds, nothing happened. She paused and rapidly waved her arms around. The people in the back started giving her looks and snickered, wondering what the heck she was doing. The woman grunted and ran towards Sephiroth, lifting her right fist for a jab in the face. Sephiroth closed his eyes and remained in one spot. Right when the fist made contact to its target, it went right through, making the man's face static for a few seconds before returning to normal. SW blinked and fell over. Sephiroth sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"… what? Is that the best you can do?"

"Quit toying me!" SW growled and jabbed his face again, but, like what happened before, the fist went straight through. The woman tried this several times before Sephiroth finally grabbed her arm and pulled it behind her back.

"When you're inside of the Lifestream… you cannot attack those who were residing here for more than two days."

"Let go of me! I wanna bash your face in!"

"… I'm telling you… the only way you can 'bash' my face in, is if we both have solid bodies. It's pointless to go on."

The woman escaped Sephiroth's grasp, turned and walked five feet away from him before turning around. "Fine. I'll get out of here, take your soul away from here again, then I'll kill you."

Sephiroth made a face. "Wow… how many times have I actually died in my life…?"

SW lifted her arms, and like what happened before, nothing happened. She waved her arms around and growled loudly.

Zack finally came in and patted her shoulder. "Sorry, you can't use anything out of the ordinary in here."

"Gah! Why not!"

He shrugged. "Dunno, that's just the way things work in here."

"Wait," Cloud said with a soft tone in his voice, still feeling kind of awkward to meet his old friend from long ago. "… what did Sephiroth mean?"

Zack turned to his friend and patted his shoulder. "It's hard to explain… but, every soul that enters in here… has to give out energy to heal the planet. That means… taking out every bit of _our_ energy… which makes us unable to escape out of here. We become one with the Lifestream. And, it's going to happen to you guys within the next forty-eight hours."

Elena widened her eyes and stood up, shaking her fists in front of her mouth. "No! I don't wanna be dead yet! I still haven't finished all my Turk-ish related things yet!"

"And I'm not ready to become part of the Lifestream!" SW yelled out. "Not until I prove to Sephiroth that he was responsible before!"

"What the heck! YOU were the one responsible for this crappy situation that we're in! Besides, the Lifestream has been seeking you for who knows how long!"

"Not that! Why did Hojo have to concentrate on you! What was so interesting about you?"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and turned away from her, trying to hide the dejected look on his face. "…that's all in the past now."

'Sephiroth…' Cloud frowned at his former idol from long ago, then slowly turned to Zack who smiled at him. "So… is there a way to get out of here?"

The man frowned then shook his head. "Desperate people tried, but… they couldn't figure out how. They too thought they weren't ready… but as time passed, they saw this as their new home. And soon, you'll get used to this place."

"… but, I'm not dead."

"What?"

"We didn't come here because we're dead! We just happened to be dragged in here because of two certain people who were supposed to come here!"

Zack blinked and stared at Sephiroth and SW, who were busy fighting… but, SW was mostly doing the fighting, trying her best to land a hard one right into Sephiroth's face. He just sighed and shrugged it off. Zack then resumed looking at Cloud.

"Sorry, I thought you…"

"You thought wrong."

Elena patted Cloud's shoulder and smiled. "I'm sure everyone's trying to figure out a way to get us out of here…"

"… but..."

"Nothing seems impossible after what happened before."

Cloud bowed his head and smiled. "… thanks."

'Arg… why am I touching him?' she sighed to herself. 'I'm too nice.'

A flash of light burst out from the back as loud screams followed after. Everyone quickly turned to the source and watched someone glow a bright green color. White orbs shot out of her body as they headed up towards the sky, soon dissolving into it. After a few seconds, the woman stopped glowing as she fell to her knees. People around her helped her up.

"Well," Zack said to Cloud and Elena. "I hope your friends get you out of here soon. Because, that's whats going to happen after your two days are up. And, you'll never be able to come out of here again."

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 9! Ah! I tried my best to make it sound… not confusing. It's confusing… I do that a lot in my stories. :grunts: But, I always follow up with a chapter that makes it sound sense… so, don't worry. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please tell me how you thought of it! 


	10. Taking A Step Further

A/N: Chapter 10 is finally up! Sorry 'bout the long wait. This was a short chapter to write actually, but… I didn't really want to cover everything so soon so, this… is how it turned out.

Disclaimer: FF7… blah blah blah… not mine.

Summary: A discussion about No. 34, how to bring her and everyone else back. Vincent thinks back to his past and remembers a certain experiment hanging around Hojo's lab.

**Silent Wind**  
Chapter 10

Taking A Step Further

"So… that's what really happened, huh?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

As soon as everyone made their way inside the Highwind, AVALANCHE and the Turks wanted some of their questions answered immediately. Why and how Number Thirty-four came to be. The dragons had already explained SW's plan to escape out of Hojo's laboratory and how she longed to seek revenge on the SOLDIER. SW actually wanted to continue being the scientist's experiment, but, ever since 'Sephiroth' came to be, she just couldn't take being ignored anymore. It took several years until Hojo actually trashed SW away and that was when she heard that Sephiroth had joined SOLDIER. After she had been trashed away, SW had been observing the planet as she was searching, soon coming across the Lifestream and sensing the SOLDIER's spirit from within it.

"The only thing she doesn't realize is," continued the bigger dragon, "there's no way to fulfill her revenge on that SOLDIER."

"Why not?" Tifa spoke up, cradling Cloud's head on her lap.

"Sephiroth is already dead. He is merely a soul she managed to steal out of the Lifestream. She'll only be defeating… this boy instead."

"Then we have to do something!"

"But, she will not stop until her desire has been achieved."

"You're not making any sense!" snapped Yuffie, punching the air. "How can she do it… if she can't… do it?"

"Which is why we're heading towards the lab. Like I said before, she needs a solid body… so we need to search for that DNA that Hojo used on the other experiments. Plus, we need a body for Sephiroth as well…"

"Couldn't we use Cloud or Elena's body to return them?" Rude asked.

"SW is the only one that can make two souls enter a body. Even if we _did_ try it, I guarantee that it would just destroy them from the inside out and their souls would remain in the Lifestream forever."

"This is so shitty," Cid grunted at the two dragons and paused. "…Sephiroth too?"

"You'll understand everything once our plan starts."

Red XIII stepped forward. "And? You never told us how you guys came to be."

The smallest dragon shrugged his tiny wings and responded with a squeak, "To make a long story short… we don't know. We just somehow met and we joined forces to defeat this 'Sephiroth.'"

"Heh, man… she's full of bologna," the other dragon snickered.

"Indeed she is, brother."

"Gah! Why do you act like that towards your friend!" Barret growled, rubbing his head with his hand.

"Because! We just like to see her suffer. After she stupidly told us about herself and that if she would never fulfill her revenge on this SOLDIER, she would just-"

"EXPLODE!" The tallest dragon said, making his brother snicker.

Everyone made an annoyed look and sighed at that.

"Captain!" one of the pilot operators said to Cid, "We're now heading towards Nibelheim."

"A'ight!" Cid replied.

'Hojo… he only concentrated on that Jenova Project,' Vincent told himself, 'I could have sworn I saw something in that lab...'

'You know somethin'?' Chaos (at long last, heh) suddenly spoke up.

'I remember… there was this small test tube that Hojo always kept in a drawer, but never said what it was.'

'Is it the DNA?'

'Perhaps.'

'Tch. It's probably gone by now. You realize how long ago that was?'

'But, that drawer had a lock in it.'

'So?'

'It could still be there. Plus, I also remember an experiment that the scientists were working on at that time…'

'…Number Thirty-four?'

'…she was an experiment of Jenova. I overheard Hojo saying that she was too powerful to work with, so he decided to work on something else. Unfortunately… I believe that since he had been concentrating on Sephiroth, he forgot about SW, and trashed her years later…'

'Thanks, mister obvious.' Chaos yawned. 'Why don't you say something already?'

Vincent grunted to himself, 'I just want to make sure. I'm still trying to put all the pieces back together...'

'…I hate puzzles. They take forever to finish. Every one of them looks exactly the same… especially if you're trying to put flowers together… sheeeesh.'

Vincent ignored Chaos' whining and concentrated outside of the Highwind, focusing on their next destination: Nibelheim, The ShinRa Mansion.

Just then, Tifa's PHS started ringing. After she scrambled across the room to reach it, she started to wonder… who would be calling?

"H-Hello?" she answered with an unsure tone in her voice.

"Ho ho ho! Hello there, Tifa!"

"Ah! Bugenhagen?"

Red's ears perked up at that, "Grandpa?"

"Yes, unfortunately, Cloud left his lil' bring-along phone with him." Bugen snickered. "Anyway, how was the little reunion?"

"…it was horrible," the fighter sighed.

"…was Cloud acting funny?"

"…well, somehow he-"

"Turned into Sephiroth?"

Tifa paused then practically yelled into the phone, "YOU KNEW ABOUT THAT?"

Bugen cleared his throat, "I'm sorry I haven't told you sooner. But, I wasn't exactly sure. I had to let him go."

"B-But…"

"He seemed to have this… mysterious glow in his eye, and that told me that he had something important to take care of. When he came to be, I heard him mutter out, 'Where is she.' Do… you know what he meant?"

"… Sephiroth said…'Where is she?'"

"…but, he'd only be saying that 'cause of his so called… 'Mother.'" Yuffie pointed out.

"In other words, Jenova," Red added in.

"Number Thirty-four was a Jenova experiment!"

Everyone paused and slowly turned towards Vincent who had his mouth covered by his hand.

"…Vincent," Cid said with a mysterious tone in his voice.

"Whatcha, hidin'?" Barret added in.

'Damnit,' Vincent growled, 'Why the heck did I say that!'

'Ahaha! Guess you really wanted to point out something important didn't ya, sport?' Chaos laughed.

"I-Isn't it obvious?" Vincent finally said out loud. "Any experiments that were done by Hojo had some kind of connection with Jenova, correct? And since Number Thirty-four had something to do with Jenova, Sephiroth must see her as some kind of… mother…?"

Everyone remained silent at that.

'…whooooo, who would have guessed that you can talk so big in front of people, eh?' Chaos snickered.

'…it might not be right.'

'Tch. Doubter.'

The two black dragons tilted their heads at Vincent, "You seem to know a lot. We will find you much helpful."

Before anyone can make any comments, the Highwind came to an immediate stop. Everyone turned their attention out the window, revealing Nibelheim and its ShinRa Mansion.

* * *

A/N: End of Chapter 10. Ah! Lots of information right there. I might have pointed out the obvious several times, but, I just wanted to make a point. Hehehe, ANYWAYS! I hope you enjoyed and please tell me how you thought of it!

I decided to put up a lil' extra right 'ere. I did this to Part 2 of _Human Years_ I believe, so… if you want, check that out. Anyways, here's the random extra that has nothing to do with the story whatsoever! If you played FF7, then you would understand what it's really supposed to be. :snickers:

* * *

_Extra _

_FF7 Blooper_

Wedge: Cloud never came…

Biggs: Cloud… wonder if he was killed?

Barret: AHAHAHAA! I PITY DA FOO'!

Jessie: Damnit! Quit talkin' like Mr. T!

Barret: SHU'UP, FOO'!

:Cloud crashes through the roof of the train and lands on Barret, knocking him over senseless:

Barret: Xx;

Jessie: Oh thank god…

Direction: CUT! GAH! CLOUD!

Cloud: I KNOW! The stupid roof broke through on its own!

Wedge: …noooo…

Cloud: xX;

Director: …morons.


End file.
